National Crime Agency to hire 400 trainee cyber intelligence officers

Trainees don't need formal qualifications and will earn £22,407 a year

The National Crime Agency (NCA), a UK government body that became operational this month, is to hire 400 trainee cyber intelligence officers.

The new recruits will be placed on a two-year training programme to become officers of the NCA, which aims to cut serious and organised crime in the UK.

Being able to solve "intricate" matters of cyber-crime, tracking down child sex abusers on the web and uncovering complex international fraud, are some of the tasks an NCA officer can expect to perform.

The trainees will have the opportunity to work within the recently created National Cyber Crime Unit (NCCU) as part of their training to become one of 4,000 intelligence officers.

The salary for the trainee cyber intelligence officers will start at £22,407 a year, and will rise to £24,717 per annum after the two-year training programme is completed. It is open for candidates over 18 years old, and the recruitment process will involve a security-focused questionnaire for eligibility, followed by online numerical, verbal and logic reasoning tests.

The NCA expects that more than 1,000 candidates will make it through to the assessment centre during the first two weeks of December, which is the final stage of the recruitment process.

The agency said it was looking for "ambition and aptitude" in the area of cyber or intelligence, rather than qualifications.

"I want roles at the NCA to be the career of choice for people wanting a future in law enforcement. The agency will be vastly different to those that came before it and we need to build our crime-fighting capacity and capability," said the NCA's deputy director general, Phil Gormley.

"This trainee programme shows that we are opening the NCA up to new people and new ideas, diversifying our workforce and modernising the workplace - while at the same time transferring expertise gained through years of experience," he added.

Nick S, a technical officer within the cyber unit of the NCA, encouraged those with "ambition, a thirst for knowledge and an inquisitive mind" to consider applying for the role.

Online applications for the posts will open at 8am on November 1 and candidates can apply on the NCA careers website.

Applications will stop being accepted once 8,000 forms have been received.

Computing and QA Training's Securing Talent campaign aims to raise awareness of the growing need for people with cyber security skills in industry and government, and for clearer pathways into the cyber security profession.